UConn men's hockey downs Harvard, 4-2

UConn men’s hockey began the second half with a 4-2 win over the Harvard Crimson that was closer than it should’ve been.

The Jakes recorded a hat trick in the victory: Jake Richard scored the opener while Jake Black and Jake Percival followed in the second period. Chase Bradley sealed the victory with an empty-netter in the final seconds.

In goal, Ethan Haider stopped 16 of the 18 shots that came his way.

UConn needed just 40 seconds to take the lead courtesy of a re-direct on a shot from Messineo. The Huskies dominated for much of the opening 20 minutes, owning an 18-5 advantage in shots, but only found one goal.

After chasing the game most of the first period, Harvard got a foothold thanks to an unsportsmanlike penalty against Joey Muldowney for spraying the goalie. The Crimson quickly capitalized on the man advantage and beat Haider top-shelf to tie the game.

Four minutes later, Messineo’s shot deflected off Black in front and found its way into the back of the net to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.

Two and a half minutes after that, Percival got in on the fun. Andrew Lucas threaded a cross-ice pass to the back post, where Percival tapped it in to double the gap. The 3-1 scoreline held into the second intermission.

In the third, UConn successfully killed two penalties to maintain the edge but couldn’t extend it after failing to convert on a 2v1 and breakaway. Then, Jack Pascucci fanned on a pass at the blue line, giving Harvard a breakaway the other way. Haider couldn’t come up with a save and the Crimson pulled back within one, 3-2.

The Huskies held the puck for a long stretch late in the game to prevent Harvard from pulling the goalie, but it didn’t matter. With less than 30 seconds left and the goalie on the bench, Bradley stole the puck in the defensive zone, skated it through the neutral zone, and fired the empty-netter home to seal the win.

UConn improves to 8-9-1 on the season. Next, the Huskies will travel to UMass for one game next weekend.